O’Conner said that believes one of commanders in the borough retired, opening up a slot for McSorley to move up.

What appears to be a lateral move is actually a promotion of sorts, according to local leaders, who indicate that an assignment to a high-crime precinct with more officers, as the 48th Precinct is, an indication that McSorley is being rewarded for a good job in his current command.

“I’ve been a lot of different places and every commanding officer comes with their own experiences,” McSorley commented in 2007. “But all of them want to make their precinct a better place to live and to work.”

McSorley, a Queens native who is married and has two young children, joined the Navy at the age of 17 and traveled across the globe as an aviation electrician and helicopter crew chief. He said he switched careers because “it’s not exactly the place to have a family.”

“Their gain is our loss,” Community Board 10 district manager Kenneth Kearns said of McSorley’s departure. “We had a nice relationship with him as a commanding officer. The board had an excellent working relationship with him. He is professional, and he will be missed.”

Kearns said he had nothing but positive things to say about McSorley’s tenure at the 45th precinct.

“We congratulate Captain McSorley on his promotion, and wish him the best,” Kearns noted.

Since taking over the precinct, McSorley was able to maintain the status quo when it came to crime statistics, despite being in charge of a seriously understaffed precinct for much of his time at the command.

According to NYPD comp-stat statistics, overall major crime in the 45th precinct is up just 3.15% over the last year, but down over 9% in the last two years, as of August 2008.

The addition of more police officers on the street should relieve the burden of McSorley’s departure until a replacement is installed, although the precinct has seen a spike recently in robbery recently, worrying many locals.

At McSorley’s new command, a sergeant was taking the change with stride.

“It is not the first time I have gone through a change in commanding officers,” said Sergeant Ermyne Fleming, “and it probably won’t be the last.”